Volume 1 : Prologue 1: No Regrets Part 1

“Let us congratulate Chef Luis Shin for achieving 3 stars at his 10th restaurant!” An announcer loudly exclaimed, and a wave of applause and cheers soon followed. All eyes were directed towards one person.

In his late 40s, the man had a tidy face, showing his handsome looks. He wore a pristine and stunning white chef’s uniform.

The medal was placed onto his chest, and a light smile formed. Luis was handed the mic. Taking a deep breath, he spoke, “Thank you for awarding me this medal. But this achievement wasn’t by my efforts alone. I would have never earned this without the help of my staff.”

This wasn’t the work of one person.

“I want to thank my disciples, sponsors, and all the customers who loves my food.” Everyone played a role in causing his restaurant to be like this.

CLAP! CLAP! CLAP!

A wave of applause soon came after. With his final words, the party started. Luis, naturally, was the center of attention.

“Luis, do you have plans to open another restaurant?” The person who asked this was one of Luis’s sponsors.

“Are you seriously asking that when he just got 3-stars?” “Well, it is Luis.” Another one shook his head. However, there were doubts. That was because Luis was known to be a genius.

Every time he earned 3 stars in his restaurant, he would open another one!

Luis chuckled, “I have some ideas of what I want for my next restaurant.”

I see. Luis’s sponsors shook their heads.

They expected this.

Luis was a pioneer of cooking.

Italian, French, Chinese, Japanese—all these cuisines were different from one another. Yet Luis had mastered them. And there were many more besides these!

Each restaurant focused on a different theme. All of them became successful. That was why Luis was nicknamed,

The Cooking Genius!

“Of course, I won’t be opening up another one so soon. I want to stabilize this restaurant right now.” Luis’s restaurant just obtained 3 stars. But it was too soon. He needed to prioritize this before opening another one.

His sponsors sighed in relief. Despite him being a genius, Luis was a traveler. Once he decided something, he would accomplish it.

But once he finished this goal, he would start another one! This led to his sponsors not knowing whether to laugh or cry!

Luis spoke with his sponsors for a while. However, he was also greeted by many people; some he met before and others for the first time.

“He’s the greatest chef of this generation.”

“Isn’t he the teacher of Lin and Marcus?”

Never did anyone expect one person to create a generation of elite chefs. He was a legend among legends!

Luis chuckled. I’m not that great.

He wasn’t some legend.

After some time, the ceremony ended. But that was not the end for Luis.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

“Ava, what are you two planning?” A wry laugh came from Luis’s mouth. He couldn’t see anything as he was blindfolded.

When the ceremony ended, his disciples quickly covered his eyes, telling him they had to go somewhere.

“Secret.”

“If you say only that, I’m going to be suspicious.” Luis laughed.

“Trust us, Teacher. You don’t need to worry about anything.” Ava insisted.

“Yeah! You don’t have to worry about anything.” Ethan, his other disciple, added. But that caused Luis’s expression to frown,

“I don’t want to be assured by you, Ethan.” Ethan was the most troublesome of all his disciples. Past, present, and future.

But that caused Ethan to tear up, “Hey! How could you not trust me?! I’m your disciple!”

“Remember last week’s flambé incident?” Ava added to Luis’s argument.

“Hey! That was not my fault! You were standing way too close to the pan!”

Ava retorted, “You added too much alcohol into the pan.”

Luis shook his head. Indeed, he did. As Ethan tried to flambé, he added too much alcohol, causing the fire to become an inferno.

That was quite a day.

“Why am I being ganged up like this?!” Ethan wanted to cry. Ava and Ethan continued to argue. Hearing them argue, Luis laughed.

These two changed so much. They were once quiet trainees, but now these two had become the sous chefs of his current restaurant.

Their talents blossomed as time passed.

“Anyways, we’re here, Master!” Ava ignored Ethan as she pulled off the blindfold and,

Bang! Bang! Bang!

“Surprise!”

As the poppers exploded, Luis’s expression was stunned, speechless. That was because he saw who used them.

“Chris! Marcus! Lin! You guys are all here!” Every disciple Luis trained was here.

That was why he was so astonished. His disciples were spread far and wide around the earth. Some controlled Luis’s restaurants while others set off themselves, opening their own restaurant.

“Don’t you all have something to do?” They were all famous now and most definitely had work.

Lin, Luis’s oldest disciple, explained, “You don’t have to worry about this, Teacher. We’ve been working for quite some time to create free time just for today.”

“Really?”

“You should thank these two little sous chefs here. They were the ones who helped open up our schedules.” Marcus rubbed their heads as he grinned.

Luis turned to the two and hugged them, “This is the best present ever. Thank you so much, my disciples!”

“Don’t worry about it!” “It’s the least we can do!” This was the plan Ava and Ethan had. Luis’s birthday was on the same day as the award ceremony.

They must have a regular birthday party.

“Now, let’s party!” Ethan exclaimed as he brought out the alcohol. All his disciples started to party. It wasn’t as grand as the award ceremony. Although, Luis would choose this any other day!

The smiles on his disciples’ faces were enough. Laughter and cheers went on throughout the night.

After a few hours, Luis stared at all the people there. All his disciples were drunk, but Luis was the only one who wasn’t. He had something else to do tonight, so it was interesting to see how much fun they had.

They have all grown up. Luis taught most of his disciples at a young age. He didn’t have a wife or a child. But he wasn’t lamenting over it.

To him, those kids were his pride and joy.

“Woah, what are we supposed to do with them?” Ethan was the only one who wasn’t passed out.

“Ethan, can you send them to the hotel? I have something I have to do. Use my card and get them the best rooms here.” They needed all the rest after partying so hard.

“Understood, Teacher.” Ethan didn’t stop him. The expression on his face said it all.

Luis left the hotel and entered his car. The drive was at least an hour.

This drive would have been tiresome and mundane after everything that occurred. But not for Luis. The location he arrived at was a mountain. On the side of it was a cemetery.

Luis had a smile as he entered. It was lofty and light as he walked toward two gravestones.

“Hello, Dad. Hello, Mom.”

Luis crouched down as he talked to his parents’ gravestones. A frown soon followed, “It’s only been a month since I came here. Why is it so dirty?”

Once a month, Luis would meet his parents. Once he finished cleaning the two gravestones, Luis started talking about his day, “Dad, Mom, I told you guys before I will get another 3-star medal. And I did. Check it out.” Luis showed the pristine medal to them.

“But I guess you guys have seen these too many times.” Luis chuckled. Every time he earned a medal, Luis would bring it to them to see. It had become a process.

“Also, my disciples set up a surprise birthday party for me.” That was why Luis was so happy. He could care less about the medals.

What he was happy about was his disciples. He continued to talk about them like a doting father. After a few minutes, Luis sighed,

“It was a great day today. I just wish you guys were here to see me.”